Azure SQL Options for Your Business

Azure SQL is a powerful database service that offers a range of options to suit different business needs. With its scalable and secure architecture, Azure SQL is an ideal choice for companies looking to migrate their on-premises databases to the cloud.

For small and medium-sized businesses, Azure SQL Database is a cost-effective option that provides a flexible and scalable solution. It's perfect for businesses with limited IT resources, as it's managed by Microsoft and requires minimal maintenance.

One of the key benefits of Azure SQL is its ability to handle large volumes of data. With its built-in support for big data analytics, Azure SQL can store and process massive amounts of data with ease. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses that require advanced analytics and reporting capabilities.

Whether you're looking to migrate your existing database or build a new one from scratch, Azure SQL offers a range of deployment options to suit your needs.

With Azure SQL, you can choose from two compute tier options: provisioned and serverless. The serverless option is ideal for workloads with irregular usage patterns, as you only pay for the resources you use, and billing is per second instead of per hour.

You can select from various vCore options, which determine the amount of memory and included storage your database will have. For example, a 4 vCore option comes with 20.4 GB of memory and 32 GB of included storage. The price per hour for this option is $1.01.

The vCore purchase model also allows you to choose from three service tiers: General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale. Each tier offers different performance and SLA guarantees, with Hyperscale being the most scalable and high-performance option, suitable for large databases and compute-intensive workloads.

Here's a summary of the vCore options available:

So you're trying to decide between Azure SQL Server and SQL Server on Virtual Machines. The main difference between the two is the level of management and control you have over the database instance.

Azure SQL Server Managed Instances offer full database management, but no OS management, which is great for legacy applications that don't require OS-level access.

SQL Server on Virtual Machines, on the other hand, offers full database management, total SQL Server instance management, and full OS management, making it ideal for applications that require DTC and Polybase functionality or access to install third-party applications on the OS.

Here's a quick reference to help you decide:

In terms of cost, SQL Server on Virtual Machines is the most expensive option, while Azure SQL Server Database is the least expensive. And when it comes to high-availability and disaster recovery, both Azure SQL Server options offer built-in HA and DR, while SQL Server on Virtual Machines requires manual setup.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision!

When designing a SQL on Virtual Machines model, you'll need to consider the infrastructure. You'll need to design virtual machines for your SQL Server deployment.

Virtual machines provide flexibility and control over your SQL Server environment. You can deploy them with the same configurations as your current on-premises SQL Server instances.

You can isolate the SQL Servers from the network using VNet and Network Security Groups (NSGs). This is a key consideration for security.

Administrators must configure and manage OS-level security and SQL Server security. This includes patch management, which is a critical task to keep your environment secure.

Here are the key components you'll need to design for your SQL on Virtual Machines model:

VCore Provisioned Compute is a great option for Azure SQL Database workloads with irregular usage patterns.

You can select either a provisioned or serverless compute tier with the vCore purchase model. This allows you to pay for only the resources you use, with billing per second instead of per hour.

The provisioned compute tier is suitable for workloads with predictable usage patterns.

With provisioned compute, you can choose from various vCore sizes, each with its own memory and storage allocation.

Here's a breakdown of the vCore sizes and their corresponding memory and storage allocations:

The prices for these vCore sizes vary, with the 4 vCore size costing $1.01 per hour and the 80 vCore size costing $20.18 per hour.

Keep in mind that the prices listed are for the General Purpose tier, and prices may vary depending on the service tier and deployment model you choose.

In terms of performance, the General Purpose tier offers a 99.99% SLA and storage latency between 5 ms and 10 ms.

If you need better performance, you can consider the Business Critical tier, which offers a 99.995% SLA and storage latency of between 1ms and 2ms.

Azure SQL offers two purchase models: vCore and DTU. The vCore model is more flexible and allows for more control over resource allocation.

Azure SQL Database offers three service tiers under the vCore purchase model: General Purpose, Business Critical, and Hyperscale. Each tier offers different performance and SLA guarantees.

The General Purpose tier is the default selection for Single Database and Managed Instance, offering a fully managed database engine with a 99.99% SLA and storage latency between 5 ms and 10 ms.

The Business Critical tier offers better performance than the General Purpose option, with an SLA of 99.995% and storage latency of between 1ms and 2ms.

The Hyperscale tier leverages highly scalable storage and compute performance, offering support for databases of 100TB in size, much faster backups and restores, faster log throughput and transaction commit times, and rapid scale-up and scale-out.

The DTU model also offers three service tiers: Basic, Standard, and Premium. The Basic tier is suitable for development and production workloads, with a 99.99% uptime SLA and low CPU performance.

The Standard tier offers more CPU performance and higher IOPS, making it suitable for larger workloads. The Premium tier offers the highest CPU performance and IOPS, making it suitable for the most demanding workloads.

Here's a comparison of the service tiers:

The vCore pricing model offers different pricing options, depending on the number of vCores and memory allocated. The DTU pricing model also offers different pricing options, depending on the number of DTUs and storage allocated.

The vCore pricing model is more flexible and allows for more control over resource allocation, making it suitable for larger and more complex workloads. The DTU pricing model is more suitable for smaller and less complex workloads.

Azure SQL also offers a serverless compute tier, which allows for automatic scaling and billing per second, making it suitable for workloads with irregular and unpredictable usage patterns.

You have three deployment models to choose from when using Azure SQL Database: Single Database, Elastic Pool, and Managed Instance. Each model has its own unique features and benefits.

The Single Database model creates a database with its own set of resources, which you manage via a server. The Elastic Pool model offers auto-scaling of database resources, which are shared among multiple databases. This model is highly cost-effective for intermittent or ad hoc data workloads.

You can choose between two purchase models for the Single Database and Elastic Pool deployment options: DTU and vCore. The main difference between these models is the resources provisioned. Here's a brief comparison:

The Managed Instance deployment model does not have DTU as an option and only offers vCore.

If you're considering Azure SQL Database as your database solution, you have three deployment models to choose from.

The Single Database model creates a database with its own set of resources that you manage via a server. This option is straightforward, but it may not be the most cost-effective choice.

Elastic Pool is a more cost-effective option, especially if your solution doesn't need a dedicated Azure SQL server. You only pay for the resources you use, making it a great choice for intermittent or ad hoc data workloads.

Managed Instance offers the best compatibility benefits and licensing flexibility, designed to incentivize migration from on-premise environments. This option provides a fully-featured SQL solution running on an Azure VM, with automatic patching, backups, and high availability.

Here are the three deployment models in a nutshell:

Azure SQL Database offers two purchase models: DTU and vCore. The Managed Instance deployment model only offers vCore.

DTU bundles compute and storage resources into a single unit, representing a composite measure of CPU, memory, reads, and writes. This model is not available for the Managed Instance deployment.

The vCore model allows you to provision an exact amount of computing resources, making it a more flexible option.

Azure SQL Database offers two purchase models: DTU and vCore. The Managed Instance deployment model only offers vCore.

Here's a comparison of the two models:

The choice between DTU and vCore depends on your specific needs and requirements.

Reserved Capacity can significantly reduce your Azure SQL compute costs, but it's only available for vCore Gen 5 options.

Savings can range from 16% to 33% depending on the service tier and commitment length.

A one-year commitment on a vCore Gen 5 General Purpose configuration can save you 21%.

Upgrading to Business Critical can save you 16% with a one-year commitment.

A three-year commitment on a vCore Gen 5 General Purpose configuration can save you 33%.

You can also save 25% with a three-year commitment on a Business Critical tier.